Did you stop/reduce nursery time when baby #2 arrived to save money?

[erakakitzi]

Hi mums,
We have a 2 yo boy that goes to nursery full time since 11 months and he absolutely loves it! We will be having a new baby in 3 months time and I am stuck if I should keep the older one in nursery or at home? With inflation, having to remortgage soon (unfortunately) and 2k nursery (London prices) we will struggle. Will it be too harsh to stop him completely or shall I keep him in a day or two? I don't want him to feel that it is the baby's fault that he cannot go anymore. Eventually from Sept 2023 both of them will be in nursery full time. So I guess anything we can save now will help in the future. Any advice welcome!

I appreciate it is expensive but I'd definitely try and keep him in even if it's for a few days a week. He will be much more settled on the routine, won't be frustrated at home if you're dealing with the baby and when it comes to his 30 hours he will still have a place.

It will also be nicer for you to have 1-1 time with the baby and for him to still see his friends and not have that part of his life change.

I'm sure some people do take them out but honestly all the people I know who have had a second have kept their first in nursery.

Also consider how easy it is to get a nursery place. In some areas childcare places are very much in demand and to get two places in the same place might be tricky. So you might be better to keep the first place at least part time, so at least you have that when you return after maternity leave.

I'd still send him a couple of days, even if it means you use those days to catch up on sleep, do a baby class or sort the house out. My eldest is at school, I don't know how I would've coped having her home 24/7.

I took DS1 aged 2.5 out of nursery when I went on maternity leave for DS2, partly to save money as I knew I wasn’t going back to work and partly because I regretted going back to work full time when DS1 was one and I wanted to spend time with him.
The six weeks I had with DS1 before Ds2 was born I still remember very fondly indeed. And while it was tough looking after them both in the early days I would not have done it differently even if could have afforded childcare.

I kept mine eldest DD in for her funded hours as she was 3, so 3 days. It worked as a nice balance with saving money, getting time with just baby and also keeping her in some of her routine.

I would go for a few days a week that way you get time with baby and he gets time with his friends. You get to have more time with him then normal but also time for just baby. Routine can be useful when baby arrives.

I don't know what the rules are nowadays. But when my DC was in childcare, we used the old childcare vouchers scheme. While I was on maternity leave, my employer actually paid my childcare vouchers for me so they did not deduct anything from SMP.

I hadn't planned on keeping DC in the childminder when I was on mat leave, but having my vouchers paid meant we could send him 2 days a week.

You might find you need to keep your DC in nursery to keep the space.

I worked evenings around DH hours when DC were younger to avoid paying childcare.

I would keep him in nursery.
Drop to a few days for financial reasons if you need to.

My Daughter was 2.5 when my next one was born and it was during covid so eldest was at home 24/7 and with a new baby it was fucking hard.

If I'd had the chance I definitely would have kept her in nursery (I'm aware of how awful that sounds).

My second is due in January, my first currently does 3 days 7:45-5:45, I’ve requested to keep the same days but reduce his hours 8-3. That way he still keeps his place and gets to go and see his friends etc, it gives me a bit of one on one time with the baby but it won’t be as expensive.